Various systematic methods and means are encountered in the prior art for construction of geometric polyhedral solids. One example is shown in Stallman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,556 issued Apr. 27, 1993. The object of the Stallman design is to provide a specific geodesic dome design. The specificity of the Stallman design limits the number of constructible configurations. The design also has limited structural stability since each sub-unit of the polyhedron is split down one of the triangular faces so that a vertex can be formed from an initially flat blank. Also, the fastening mechanism is structurally weak, susceptible to separation when tension is applied across two vertices.
Another form of construction set with modular elements is described in Ziegler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,341 issued Oct. 17, 1989. The object of the Ziegler design is to provide a polygonal construction toy capable of being assembled into a wide variety of structural shapes. The Ziegler design requires a rigid material and close tolerances to achieve a snap together interlock between adjacent edges or faces. A further disadvantage is that image-bearing surfaces are difficult to manufacture with this design.
A blank for constructing solid forms is described in Weissman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,607 issued May 30, 1972. The object of the Weissman design is to provide a polygonal construction toy using a stiff planar sheet that can be assembled into a variety of geometric solids. One disadvantage of the Weissman design is that the connective mechanism is accomplished at the edges of the polygonal sections through the use of tabs and slots which require extensive detail in the design of the apparatus used to cut or form the blanks. Further, the strength of the edge connection is limited by the frictional forces between the tab and slot. Another disadvantage is that Weissman only uses regular polygonal shapes, meaning that all edge lengths and angles are equal, which limits the variety of constructible configurations.